NEW YORK — Greece and Egypt's close relation was confirmed during Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias' meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, on the sidelines of the 76th UN General Assembly in New York. A tripartite meeting of Greece, Cyprus and Egypt followed with the participation of the Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides.

Views were exchanged on Turkish behaviour, as well as on the latest developments in the Middle East and North Africa, with the Egyptian Foreign Minister expressing gratitude for the support provided by Greece and Cyprus.

A key issue on the table was relations with Turkey, with Greek foreign ministry referring to Turkish recent delinquent activities.

On his part, the Egyptian minister referred to the second round of contacts between the Egyptian and Turkish Foreign Ministers and analyzed the reasons why there is no prospect of normalization of relations between the two countries. As he stressed, a key condition for the normalization of relations is the cessation of Turkey's aggressive behaviour against Greece and Cyprus.

During the tripartite meeting of the Greek-Cypriot-Egyptian ministers, reference was made to the next steps to be taken in the tripartite cooperation, the need for the creation of a permanent secretariat, which will be in charge of the implementation of the decisions of the summits. In this context, it was pointed out that the next tripartite summit, which will take place in Greece in October, will be the ninth meeting since 2014, which indicates the regular and close contacts at all levels. In addition to the tripartite cooperation programmes, a discussion was also held on Turkey's stance and its role in Libya. Developments in Syria and Iraq were also discussed.